Just to Survive
by xzotic
Summary: Naruto: the most unpopular guy at Green Leaf High. Why does he always look so poor? Don't his parents take care of him? Naruto is about to learn that he can't do everything alone. Sometimes, it's necessary to trust adults. Of family, friends, & growing up
1. Prologue

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**Just to Survive**

_By: Xzotic_

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_**Prologue**

I hate sneaking back into this stupid place but it's the only way I can ever get a proper change of clothes and a couple of things worth pawning without actually stealing. I know others would find it weird that I'm climbing a tree to pick the lock on my own room but it's really nothing more than procedure for me now. By the time my good for nothing foster parents wake up and realize I was here, I'll be long gone and back to my usual haunts.

You see, the problem is that I'm stuck with a couple of con-artists as foster parents. When child protective services comes around they're all lovey dovey and play the role of the doting parents. Sometimes I'm there to blandly play along with the farce but most of the time I'm not and I can just imagine the shit that spews out of their mouths.

My room in their home is like a showroom. Toys, games, fresh linen, new clothes… the works. But they don't actually like me to stay there and the few months that I actually did stay there all those years ago were the most uncomfortable months of my life. And I grew up in one of the worse orphanages in the city so that's saying something. The Mizukis spent every waking moment sneering at me and putting me down. The last night I stayed there, it had gotten so bad that I'd thrown a punch at the husband. But I had only been twelve at the time so I'd gotten my ass beat pretty bad. Haven't talked to the two of them since, really.

So maybe you're wondering why I don't go to child-protective services where they're supposed to punish people like them? It's simple really. I'd rather have this freedom of going wherever I please and taking care of myself than risk going back to that depressing orphanage or trying my chances with another foster family. Better to have control of my own destiny than risk letting another stupid adult try to control it for me.

Besides, it's not all bad. I can sneak back into my old room whenever I need to and grab new clothes. I can even afford food for the next week or so if I pawn a few of the games or electronics they have strategically placed around 'my room.' Once, I even pawned a whole xbox360 and was set for about two months. That had been a pretty desperate moment, though.

Shaking my head at the bubbling memories, I methodically stuff a few odds and ends into a black duffel bag. A few pairs of pants, a few t-shirts, a new black and orange jacket, some fresh white socks, a nice watch, several computer games…. I look around the room and decide to leave the rest for their farce.

I place the bag beneath the windowsill and quickly remove my bloodstained shirt, what used to be a white pair of tennis shoes, and my favorite pair of ripped jeans. I throw those on top of the neatly made full-size bed and tug on a long-sleeved black shirt with a cool orange swirly design on the front and a pair of heavy-denim dark blue jeans. I fish out another pair of clean white socks and search the closet for a new pair of shoes and hopefully a belt. I happily find a pair of black construction boots and a thick black belt and finish getting dressed with a pleased smile.

I turn around, surveying the room one last time before I swing the duffel bag over my shoulder and jump out of the window. I purposefully leave signs of my being there and know that it'll piss the Mizukis off in the morning. The thought makes me grin as I run through the neighborhood, heading back to my hideout in the city. If I got back too late, I knew I would have a hard time waking up in the morning and would therefore be late for school in the morning. I didn't want to have to be sent to Mr. Iruka in the guidance counselor's office again so I put a new burst of speed into my run.

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**A/N:** I know, I know! I have no business starting a new story when I haven't even finished my other two but this just wouldn't leave me alone and I kept writing more and more!! I already have an outline and two chapters on my hardrive!! I'll post the first chapter straight away but I'll save the second chapter until I see how this is received. This story won't be in first person. I only did this for the prologue. Please tell me what you think. I mean, the idea sounded great in my head but it may not have translated so great onto paper.

For those of you who might be wondering what's up with my other works, I'm really sorry but this is my last year in school and I've got such a heavy work load I could snap at any moment. This story literally wrote itself up to two chapters in just over an hour. My Kiba/Ino story is ALMOST done but I'm trying to find time to make it better. Please be patient.


	2. Ch1: Always in Trouble

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**Just to Survive**

_By: Xzotic_

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_**Chapter 1:**

** _Always in Trouble

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"Yo, check it out! Uzumaki has some new threads!"

"'Bout time! I'm tired of him always dressing like a bum!"

"He still probably stinks like a pig, though, has he ever heard of a shower?"

Naruto ignored all of the comments he could overhear and slowly made his way to his locker. His droopy blue eyes were heavy and unfocused as he tried to remember the combination he'd been issued just a few weeks ago.

_First period with Mr. Asuma… what class is that again?_

Naruto couldn't force enough energy into his tired limbs. After running damn-near 18 miles non-stop the night before and then crashing onto his favorite park bench only 2 miles away from his high school, the 16-year-old had woken up sore all over and feeling like he hadn't slept at all.

"Naruto. Better hurry or you'll be late to homeroom. Everything all right?"

_Old man Sarutobi!_

Naruto jumped and swung around to see the principal of Green Leaf High School staring at him shrewdly. He quickly plastered on one of his patented (but fake) happy grins. "Fine, fine, old man… I-I mean Principal Sarutobi, sir!"

He quickly grabbed his books out of his otherwise barren locker and slammed it shut before nervously scratching the back of his head. "I was just heading off to class, sir!"

Principal Sarutobi just stared at the young man as though searching for some sort of sign. But eventually, he just nodded his head. "Keep your head up, Naruto, and try not to get into trouble today."

Naruto mock saluted with a mischievous smile. "Sir, yes sir!" he shouted as he walked off, legs still sore and eyes still droopy.

He understood the principal's concern. After all, no one else in the school was likely to be as intimately acquainted with the administrative staff as Naruto was. He was constantly getting into trouble be it through acting up in class, talking back to teachers, playing elaborate pranks on staff members, or even fighting with other students. The problem was that Naruto's legal guardians were never available for meetings and Naruto never seemed the least bit repentant for his actions. Mr. Iruka insisted that suspending the blond troublemaker was not the answer, however, so Naruto was a constant fixture in the after-school detention hall.

Sarutobi sighed and sadly watched the boy go. He knew in his heart that there was something very wrong with that boy's home life. But what could he or anyone do if the boy wasn't willing to talk about it?

***

Red hair, and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. Naruto just knew that Mr. Himura must've led a pretty interesting life. So why did the scrawny little man keep talking about this boring history stuff like it was so cool. He'd rather hear about how his teacher had gotten that _cool_ scar!

Suddenly, Naruto felt something flick him on the back of his neck. Turning sharply, the blond saw nothing but innocent faces but he knew immediately who the culprit was. Resolving to be on his best behavior today since he was still too tired for trouble, the blond turned around with a lazy roll of the eyes.

Mr. Himura was staring directly at him when he turned back around and the teacher smiled proudly at him before going back to his lecture. Naruto's blue eyes were wide. This guy had eyes like a hawk!

Resolving to never again put anything past his teacher with the cool scar, Naruto opened his book and started to pretend that he was reading along with what Mr. Himura was lecturing about.

Not five minutes later, something heavy smacked into the back of his head and Naruto jumped out of his seat, rubbing the sore spot angrily. He turned on the boy sitting two rows behind him and pointed his finger. "Kabuto, if you throw one more thing at me, I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp!"

The boy with the silver glasses raised his hands innocently and slowly stood up. "Naruto, I have no idea what you are talking about. I have not thrown a single thing at you." His eyes were wide and innocent but the slight curve at one corner of his lip immediately set the blond off.

"Don't lie to me you jerk!" Naruto shouted.

"Hey, hey, Naruto let's just calm do-" Mr. Himura tried to say.

"It's not my fault if poorboy keeps feeling stuff crawling all over him," Kabuto drawled. He fixed Naruto with a jeering stare. "That's what happens when you don't take regular baths, after all."

The rest of the class erupted into laughter and the blond seemed to deflate for a minute. A moment later, the sadness in his blue eyes turned to fierce anger and before Mr. Himura could move to stop him, Naruto launched his entire body over two rows and straight into Kabuto's face, fist first. The entire classroom erupted into pandemonium as the two hit the floor, Naruto on top and pounding into the sneering boy's stupid face.

"Naruto! _Naruto_!" Mr. Himura forced his way through the crowd of crazed students and grabbed the blond by the scruff of his shirt to yank him away from the other student.

Kabuto's face was covered in blood from his gushing nose and it looked like his right eye was starting to swell up but the silver-haired boy was still grinning and sneering at the blond as though he was nothing more than mud.

Mr. Himura sighed and turned to the junior class president, fearfully standing off to the side of the commotion. "Miss Sakura, please escort Mr. Naruto to the principal's office. Tell Principal Sarutobi that I'll be there as soon as possible."

The pink-haired girl nodded her head nervously and watched as the blond boy shook himself out of their teacher's grasp and angrily stomped out of the classroom.

"Make sure he goes straight to the Principal. Understood, Miss Sakura?"

"Y-yes, sir," she replied before quickly hurrying after the boy.

***

Naruto was angry. _So_ angry! With Kabuto, with his teachers, with _himself_. Kabuto was one of the richest kids in the school. The spoiled son of a very famous doctor. Kabuto was also an evil little bastard who loved to play mind games with him just to see him snap. And he fell for it every time.

"Hey!"

Naruto paused in the otherwise empty hallway and turned to see Sakura Haruno hurrying to catch up to him. Class president, perfect little Sakura with her perfect grades and a tendency to be every teachers' pet. He'd never really spoken to her before but here she was jogging up to him in the middle of the hall.

"Mr. Himura asked me to make sure you reached the principal's office okay," she explained when she finally reached him.

Naruto didn't want company right then. Not when he was feeling like such crap. He plastered on a fake smile and scratched the back of his head self consciously. "Don't worry about me, I've been to the old man's office so many times I could probably find it blindfolded." He let out a nervous laugh and turned to continue on his way.

Unfortunately, the pink-haired girl fell into step beside him with a no-nonsense look on her face. "Well, regardless of whether or not you know the way, Mr. Himura asked me so I have to escort you."

Naruto didn't comment but let the smile slip from his face as they walked in silence. Sakura stole a few curious glances his way before finally deciding to broach a subject.

"You know, you really shouldn't let people egg you on," she stated in a know-it-all tone. "They're only looking for a rise out of you so you should really just ignore them."

Naruto didn't feel like talking so he said nothing.

"Kabuto's a real jerk, though," Sakura finally said as they reached the door to the front office. "Part of me was really glad when you threw that first punch at his lying face!"

Naruto paused just before walking through the door and turned to the girl in amazement. "Wha?"

Sakura grinned at him, glad to have gotten a reaction out of him. "Kabuto's always looking down on people. I hate people who pick on others less fortunate. He's lower than scum, if you ask me!"

Naruto blinked at the passionate girl as she propped her hands on her hips and a slow grin came over his face. "Yeah, he is a major jerk. I thought I was the only one to notice, though." He cocked his head at her curiously before walking into the office.

Sakura didn't know why she felt so good about making the odd boy smile a real smile but she felt bolstered as she followed him into the main office and up to the secretary's desk.

The secretary took one look at the blond standing before her and shook her head. "Go right on in, Mr. Naruto. How are you today, Miss Sakura?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly at her and Sakura exchanged a few pleasantries before moving straight to the office at the end of the hall. Sakura was about to knock but Naruto simply pushed the door open without preamble.

"Hey old man! Thought I'd pay you a visit!"

Sakura felt her eye twitch at the disrespectful way the blond was speaking to their principal.

Principal Sarutobi let out a sigh and shuffled the papers he'd been reading through. "What have you done now, Naruto?" He received only a fox-like grin in response and the old principal wearily shifted his eyes to his other guest. "Ah, Miss Sakura, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Sakura smiled respectfully. "Mr. Himura asked me to escort him here, Mr. Sarutobi, sir. He says he'll be here as soon as he can."

"Well thank you, Miss Sakura. Please tell Mr. Himura to take his time."

Sakura nodded and quietly made her way out of the office.

"Bye Sakura! Thanks for the chat!" Naruto shouted after her.

Principal Sarutobi picked up his phone and dialed a familiar extension. "Iruka? Yes, I require your presence in my office. Thank you."

Naruto let out a groan. "Not Mr. Iruka again…"

The principal calmly placed the phone back in its cradle and fixed the blond with a piercing stare. "Naruto, until you can learn to control yourself you should consider Mr. Iruka as your strongest ally. He is the only reason you are even still attending this school. I get complaints from parents about your presence at this school every day. You do not help matters by getting into trouble all the time. Now what was it this time?"

Naruto sunk into his seat in front of the principal's desk. He was in for it now. He would probably miss lunch thanks to Kabuto. And they were going to serve _ramen_ today!

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**A/N: **Well? What do you think? Is it interesting?


	3. Ch2: Still on Hard Times

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**Just to Survive**

_By: Xzotic

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_**Chapter 2: Still on Hard Times**

By the time school let out for the day, Naruto was emotionally exhausted from the combined efforts of old man Sarutobi, Mr. Iruka, and Mr. Himura to probe into his thoughts, his feelings, and his 'life at home.' Mr. Himura had vouched that the conflict hadn't been entirely his fault, but further than that he'd had nothing good to say about his quick temper.

Mr. Iruka in his usual fashion had tried to get him to answer personal and embarrassing questions: were his legal guardians aware of his anger problem, did they ever hit him or touch him inappropriately, did he feel safe when he slept at night, was he always angry when he was at home…. The questions went on and on and on. Naruto hadn't answered a single one of them.

Out of pity, old man Sarutobi excused him from detention for the day and Naruto wasted no time in racing out the back doors of Green Leaf High. He wanted to avoid as many people as possible so he decided to take the shortcut through the woods in back of the school to get to his hideout on the south side of town.

As he cut though the overgrowth, heading for the trees, the blond heard a sharp cry of pain and turned in the direction of the noise. Hearing nothing else, the blond curiously crept over to a cluster of low-hanging evergreens and peered around a trunk to see what was going on.

There, standing in a small clearing, was Kabuto and two of his lackeys facing off with a red-haired guy. One of Kabuto's lackeys was keeled over, nursing a swollen wrist.

Kabuto calmly stared at the red-head. "Gaara, I can't help it if prices have gone up on this stuff. You only brought enough cash for one bottle this time. If you want more then you'll have to give me more money."

The one named Gaara calmly moved closer to Kabuto and despite his confusion, Naruto was delighted to see the fear enter the spoiled brat's eyes. Gaara grabbed Kabuto by the front of his shirt, effortlessly lifting him off the ground despite his smaller stature.

"Kabuto Yukushi," the strange boy spoke in a deep, menacing voice. "I see someone has already had the pleasure of pounding that insolent face of yours. If you don't give me the pills that I asked for, I'll give you another black eye to match."

Despite his position, Kabuto smiled down at the red-head with the heavy dark circles around his eyes. "I really can't do that Gaara. You see, my Dad could only get me one bottle this time. It's getting harder and harder for him to steal supplies which is why the rates have almost doubled. It's only business, Gaara, beating me up will really just be a waste of your time."

Naruto watched as Gaara slowly returned Kabuto to his feet, showing excellent control of his impressive strength. As soon as Kabuto was on his feet, he smiled and seemed about to say something pleasant when a swift fist collided with the side of his face. He went flying back to crash into his two lackeys, the three of them falling into a heap on the floor.

Gaara turned his back on them. "Have my pills by tomorrow or you'll be dead by sunrise the next day."

Naruto shivered at the coldness of his voice and decided it was time to go. He'd learned something he was sure someone could kill him for. Kabuto was dealing drugs to students at other high schools and whomever Kabuto's father was was the source.

Naruto silently turned away and took off through the woods.

***

Teuchi was more than happy to see his favorite customer walk into his small restaurant after a whole week of absence. "Naruto! How's my favorite little delinquent?" he grinned, pointing a butcher knife at the strapping youth.

"Hey old man! How ya been?" Naruto was wearing his infamous fox-grin, the scars on his cheeks giving the impression that he really did have whiskers and all.

Teuchi eyed the duffle bag over the lad's shoulder pointedly. "The sharks are sitting at their usual table in the back, kid. That what you here for?"

Nodding, Naruto turned to head straight over but stopped when a knife flew past his nose and landed with a _shi-nk_ in the wall. He turned warily to see Teuchi with his hands on his hips and his face stormy. "I thought I warned you about those guys, kid. You don't want to be mixed up in that life!"

Blue eyes downcast, Naruto deftly removed the sharp butcher knife and tossed it back to the old man. "Thanks, old man, but I've got to do this. I'll be more than careful, I promise."

With that, Naruto walked over to the booth in the back of the restaurant and set his duffle bag on the table in front of the three men. Naruto stared at the two that he recognized and tried to school his features.

"Itachi, I've got a few things to pawn off," he stated.

"That's what a pawn shop is for, brat," the second guy scoffed.

"No one asked you fish-face!" Naruto snapped angrily. If Itachi wasn't willing to give him money for the stuff that he'd pilfered from his foster parents, he'd never make nearly enough from the pawnbrokers. Itachi was his highest paying source.

"Kisame, that's enough." Itachi turned to Naruto and looked at him as if he were an interesting puppy. "How have you been, Naruto? You haven't come to see me in a while."

Naruto grit his teeth and tried not to let his disgust for the man show. "I've been pretty busy."

"Ah, but when you want something you do come crawling back, don't you… Naruto?"

Naruto could feel his temper rising. The man loved to play games with him. Itachi knew that he hated coming to him. Resolutely unzipping his duffel bag, Naruto pulled out the watch and computer games from the side pocket. "I want to pawn these."

With feigned interest, Itachi slowly took the offered items and looked them over. He finally smiled and looked up at the boy. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but these are of absolutely no interest to me."

Naruto felt his heart stop. "But you've taken less expensive items than that before!" he exclaimed, "that watch should at least get me a hundred bucks!"

Itachi carelessly tossed the items at Kisame who eyed the watch critically before slipping it onto his wrist with a feral grin.

"Kid, let me tell you a secret," Itachi said, leaning forward in his seat. "All those times I bought all of those useless items from you? I wasn't pawning those worthless things… I was buying your trust."

Naruto felt his eyes burning as he watched Kisame leaf through the objects that had been meant to pay for his livelihood for the next few weeks. How was he going to eat tomorrow if he didn't make any money off of these items? Why couldn't Itachi just give him the money one more time and warn him that there wouldn't be a _next_ time? Why wait until he'd gotten desperate enough to come see his ugly mug again?

"Now, if you want to make money that's not a problem at all. We have plenty of jobs that you could perform for us that would put a sizable chunk in your wallet." Itachi smirked evilly and Naruto knew immediately what kind of 'jobs' he was talking about. He felt a sudden weight in his chest and he tried not to let his distress show.

Itachi turned and regarded someone else. "What do you think Kakashi? The boy could be used as an excellent partner. Our clients would not suspect a teenaged boy, after all?"

Naruto hadn't even taken notice of the third person at the table but when he turned to look, he was surprised to see a man with silver-white hair staring intently at him. The man wore a black mask over the bottom half of his face and had creepy mismatched eyes. One eye was a normal, obsidian color. The other had a vertical scar over it and the iris was a blood red color with black specks. The man looked downright _scary_. Just the sort of man that Naruto expected to consort with the likes of Itachi.

"I don't know, Itachi, he looks a little green," Kakashi lazily commented.

Naruto sputtered and angrily pointed a finger at the strange-looking man. "Who're you calling green you red-eyed freak!"

Itachi chuckled and slapped a hand on the table. "It's settled then. Naruto, you will meet with Kakashi at noon on Friday to make the tradeoff. I'll give you two hundred dollars and a chance to call the debt you owe me even."

Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew he hadn't been asked whether or not he would do the job. The threat was implied. He would do the job _or else_.

"Kakashi, why don't you escort young Naruto home to his family. Wouldn't want something bad to happen to the kid before he can be of use to me."

Without a word, Kakashi lazily rolled himself to his feet and clapped a heavy hand on Naruto's shoulder. Quickly zipping up his bag and swinging it over his shoulder, Naruto tried not to snap at anyone as he was unceremoniously led to the exit. Before he was shoved out the door, Naruto peered over his shoulder to see old man Teuchi shaking his head disappointedly at him.

***

Naruto wasn't sure if Kakashi was really planning to follow him all the way to a house or not but the man had stayed five steps behind him for 30 minutes now. Naruto was only a few blocks from his hideout and he was getting nervous.

Finally, he stopped and turned to face the strange man with the mismatched eyes. "Um, thanks but, y-you really don't have to follow me all the way home. I'm a big boy, I can handle it from here!" he tried one of his fake smiles and scratched the back of his head nervously.

Kakashi blandly stared back at the youth and gave nothing away. "Orders are orders," he replied simply. "Stop wasting my time and keep walking."

Naruto's smile faltered and he immediately turned to continue walking. "Well, the thing is Kakashi… Mr. Kakashi… I wasn't really going to go home, you see."

There was silence and then Naruto heard a sigh behind him. "How old are you kid?" he heard the man mutter just above a whisper.

"Uh… 16?" his answer sounded more like a question.

"And where are your parents? Do they know you're out running around with people like Itachi?"

Naruto paused mid-step and angrily swung around to face the man again. "I don't _have_ any parents, you giant scarecrow! What makes you think I'm running around with that jerk Itachi anyway? And what would a parent be able to do against someone like him that I can't manage on my own?"

"Alright, alright, calm down kid. Yeesh," Kakahi rolled his eyes lazily. "I figured as much anyway. So where do you live? An orphanage? Foster home? What's the deal?"

Naruto raised his chin defiantly. "None of the above."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Then where are you going?"

"What, are you going to report this back to Itachi? He doesn't need to know where my hideout is!"

Kakashi looked shocked but innocently raised his hands. "Listen, kid, Itachi doesn't need to hear it from me that you're a runaway. I'm sure his only plan was to find out if you had any family that he could blackmail you with. I'll be sure to report back that I escorted you to an orphanage but I do need to say with confidence that you're going somewhere safe."

Naruto's eyes widened a bit. This Kakashi guy sort of reminded him of Mr. Iruka. "I'm going somewhere safe," he replied evasively. "It wouldn't be that safe if I told people where it was, though, now would it?"

Kakashi's eyes closed in what looked like a pleasant smile but Naruto didn't know how he could tell without being able to see the lower portion of the man's face. "Understood, kid," he answered jovially, turning to head back the way he'd come.

Naruto watched him go cautiously until he could no longer see his bright silver head. Then he turned and took off at a dead run.

So many things had happened that day that it was hard to catalogue it as a good day or a bad day. He'd gotten into trouble at school again but he'd been able to punch the snot out Kabuto (plus). Old man Sarutobi seemed to be losing his patience with him but he just might have made his first friend at school (another small plus Naruto thought as he pictured the cute pink haired girl). He found out Kabuto was drug-dealing on school property but he wasn't sure how dangerous that knowledge was (maybe a plus but definitely tricky). Itachi wouldn't buy his goods but he would pay him double if he could pull off whatever job he had to do with Kakashi on Friday (minus, he thought as he realized how trapped he was in the situation). Naruto remembered the look on old man Teuchi's face and deflated as he looked up at his hideout (definite minus).

Teuchi had given him plenty of free meals when he'd been in desperate times. The old man seemed to have a lot of expectations for him despite his pitiful past. It wasn't his fault if he was constantly letting the old guy down. Why should he expect so much out of someone as disadvantaged as he was anyway?

Naruto hopped onto the old dumpster at the side of the abandoned building and kicked off the brick wall to jump high enough to reach the fire escape. He was an expert at this now, he thought with a grin. He shimmied up the fire escape, picked the lock on the automatic-locking window and threw his duffel bag inside before turning to jump down into the four-story tall building. As he turned, Naruto's heart leaped in fright as he swore he saw a glint of silver hair across the street.

Had that scarecrow followed him home?

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**A/N:** So I've just been thinking about posting the second chapter all morning so I said forget about waiting for a certain amount of reviews, I'll just post the next chapter anyway. Thanks to my first three reviewers who gave me excellent feedback! I promise that I will definitely jump back into the world of writing with much gusto once all this schoolwork is out of the way. As it is, I have two tests this week and lots of homework so I won't be uploading another chapter for anything until the weekend.

Please, to everyone else, don't take the fun out of the writing process by not giving me feedback. I love feedback. And I'm really hoping that the scope of this story starts to interest people.


	4. Ch3: Almost Caught

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**Just to Survive**

_By: Xzotic_

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_**Chapter 3:**

**_Almost Caught

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_  
**

The next morning, Naruto was slow in getting up and therefore ended up running late for school. He'd spent the entire night on sentry, looking out for that scary guy Kakashi because he could've sworn that the man had followed him back to his hideout. He hadn't slept a wink and had instead cursed himself throughout the night as he fought off the paranoia of being watched by freaky mismatched eyes.

Naruto literally ran through the front doors of Green Leaf just as the homeroom bell rang and declared him officially late.

"Naruto! There you are!"

The blond looked up with droopy bloodshot eyes. It was two days in a row now that he hadn't gotten proper sleep or a decent meal and his body was protesting in every way.

Mr. Iruka stared down at the pitiful sight the boy made, leaning over his knees as his stomach growled audibly. Naruto was, by far, the student he worried about the most. There was just no telling what was going on when a boy didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't take regular showers, and wore almost the same clothes every day.

"Mr. Iruka?" Naruto queried in a very tired, subdued voice.

"I've been waiting for you, Naruto. Actually, I bought a few too many pastries from the bakery this morning. Maybe we can sit down and eat a bit while you tell me why you're late coming in this morning, hmm?"

The only thing Naruto heard was the mention of food and he readily followed the guidance counselor as he began to salivate from the thought of breakfast.

Iruka smiled gently as he led the starving boy into his office and closed the door. "There's a fresh pot of coffee on the shelf over there. Help yourself, Naruto."

Naruto practically flash-stepped over to the counter with the open box of pastries and immediately took a bite out of a huge muffin. "Mmm…" he groaned happily as he chewed, "wha ish vis, Misher Iwooka?"

Iruka Umino chuckled as the blond boy looked up at him with starry eyes and a stuffed mouth. "That, Mr. Uzumaki, would be a banana nut muffin. Have you ever had that before?"

Naruto shook his head and continued to eat in relative silence. Iruka waited patiently for the child to finish his first muffin. He quickly poured a cup of coffee for him when he began to choke from eating too fast and Naruto gave him a grateful smile after he sipped it down.

"Now why don't you start by telling me why you're running late this morning, Naruto."

Naruto looked up just as he was about to bite into a tasty-looking Danish and some of the excitement dimmed from his bright blue eyes. "It was nothing," he answered simply. "I just overslept."

"Did your foster parents realize that you were late for school?" Iruka asked suspiciously.

Naruto took his time to chew an extra large bite of the Danish. "They don't usually worry about such trivial stuff. People oversleep all the time. It was an accident."

"I see. Well, Naruto, Mr. Asuma tells me that you come in late quite often. He also brought to my attention the fact that you came to school last Friday with a bloodstained shirt on."

"My locker gets jammed sometimes. It made me a few minutes late to homeroom a couple of times," Naruto stated evasively. He was steadily avoiding Iruka's questioning eyes.

"And the stained shirt?"

"I'm pretty sure that that was just ketchup, Mr. Iruka. Why would I come to school with blood on my shirt?"

"Why indeed," Iruka sighed. "Naruto, remember what we discussed yesterday? If there is anything going on at home you should not hesitate to tell me. I can help."

Naruto looked over at him with a forced smile. "I still don't know why you're so worried, Mr. Iruka. Nothing's wrong at home."

The blond felt his heart speed up in fear as Iruka peered closely at him.

"It's true that whenever I call your home, Mrs. Mizuki has nothing but good things to say about you. But I can never get the Mizukis to agree to a meeting and you're never home when I call or visit."

Naruto spluttered and spewed coffee out of his mouth just after taking a huge gulp. "Y-you've visited my _house_?" he shouted incredulously. Did teachers _do_ that?

Iruka cocked his head innocently. "Why, yes Naruto. Several times, in fact. It's standard procedure when teachers and staff are unable to contact a child's parents. Especially in your case when we're dealing with foster care."

Naruto felt like he might start hyperventilating. "U-um… right! Sorry I wasn't there but I must have been um… out with friends!"

"It's funny you should say that, you know… I was actually at your house this morning and your foster parents assured me that you'd already left for school." Iruka tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Imagine my confusion when I see you arriving late when you should've logically been here an hour ago."

The coffee mug slipped out of his boneless hand and Naruto felt his entire world shrinking in size.

"Why were you really late this morning, Naruto? Tell me the truth."

"I'm telling you the truth! I overslept!" Naruto snapped defensively.

"Then explain to me how your foster parents were under the impression that you'd woken up earlier than usual this morning if you, in fact, overslept."

Naruto's mind quickly worked out a plausible explanation. "There's this park a few blocks away. I like to stop there before school sometimes. I fell asleep on a bench there and woke up late, alright?"

Iruka studied the blond boy closely. There was desperation in his sparkling blue eyes begging that he would believe him. That alone was enough proof for Iruka to know that he was lying.

Sighing, Iruka wearily moved to his desk and picked up a pen and pad. "Alright, Naruto. I believe you. Try not to let it happen again." Iruka ignored the obvious relief that came over the youth's face and signed his name on the slip of paper. "Here. Give this to your homeroom teacher then hurry off to your next class."

Naruto quickly snatched the piece of paper and turned to leave immediately.

"And Naruto?" Iruka waited for the boy to glance back uncertainly. "Try not to fall asleep on any park benches in the future. That's quite dangerous, you know."

Naruto furrowed his brow in confusion but turned to leave again without commenting.

Iruka watched the boy go with more than a few reservations. Who knew what Naruto was really getting into. Several scenarios were running through the counselor's head. It was possible that the Mizukis were just as nice as they seemed and maybe Naruto was getting into trouble behind their backs. But Iruka didn't think that was the case. Despite all appearances to the contrary, Iruka believed that Naruto was a really good kid. He would be more than a model student if things were going alright at home. No, Iruka believed that something fishy was up with the Mizukis and Naruto was the innocent one caught up in it.

Iruka slouched into his chair with a sigh. He really wanted to help Naruto but the boy seemed very hesitant to trust _anyone_.

***

For the rest of the day, Naruto tried to be as invisible as possible. He said not a single word to the crowd of kids making fun of him as he walked outside during lunch. He didn't even twitch when Kabuto gave him one of his most mocking sneers. He even avoided Sakura's somewhat concerned side-glances. His run-in with Mr. Iruka that morning had him _freaked_.

He could've been found out. Iruka almost saw right through his lie all because he'd had to oversleep _this_ morning of all mornings! That stupid, freaky-eyed scarecrow and his stupid hair! If he hadn't thought that Kakashi had followed him to his hideout last night then he wouldn't have been so paranoid and he wouldn't have overslept this morning!

Naruto tried to hold back the urge to punch something out of frustration as he sat through his last period class in utter silence. He hadn't been listening to a word his professor had been saying all period so he was caught completely off guard when Mr. Ebisu called him to the front of the classroom to work out a math problem.

Fuming silently, Naruto sulked to the front amidst the jeers of several classmates and took the proffered chalk from his frowning algebra teacher. He stared at the problem on the board for a solid minute, trying to remember what he knew about the rules of algebraic problem solving. This stuff seemed so easy when he bothered to look at his school textbook. Deciding he would just solve it the best way he knew how, Naruto began manipulating the equation in his somewhat sloppy handwriting for the entire class to see.

He wrote out four different operations before finally writing 'therefore x = ± 7' in bold print. He stepped back from his work, nodded resolutely and handed the chalk back to his blank-faced teacher before turning to hurry back to his seat. He would hide behind his desk before Mr. Ebisu got a chance to publicly humiliate him for messing it up completely.

"That… that's right!" Mr. Ebisu suddenly exclaimed.

Naruto was halfway to his desk when he heard the astonishing words. He turned back to the math teacher with wide eyes.

"Excellent work, Naruto. I see _some_one has been studying." Mr. Ebisu cast a condemning look at the rest of the class.

Naruto was still too shocked to move when he felt a small tug on his left sleeve. He looked down to see that he was standing right next to Sakura's desk.

"Great job, Naruto," she whispered with a grin.

At her words, Naruto beamed and continued back to his seat. At least one good thing had happened today, he thought happily.

***

That night, Naruto only stayed at his hideout for one full hour before deciding that he just couldn't feel safe there anymore. If Kakashi had really followed him there then the purpose of the hideout had been compromised. It was time to move on.

It was almost fall so the nights were starting to get colder. He layered on as many clothes as he could and threw on his new black and orange jacket. He took with him his few meager possessions: a flashlight, an old toothbrush, a few crumpled one dollar bills, and of course the new clothes that were already stuffed into his duffel bag.

It was almost midnight before Naruto decided to give up and try his luck in an empty ally. With his back against the wall he felt a modicum of security, huddled into the darkest corner and keeping his ears attuned to the slightest sounds. This would do for now, he thought tiredly and his eyes slowly began to droop closed.

The rest of the week passed in somewhat of a haze. He woke up freezing every morning and his entire body ached from sleeping in such an uncomfortable spot but he managed to make it on time to school each day. He'd resorted to going in early just so he could wash his face and clean his mouth before class. He had to avoid another confrontation with Iruka at all costs. That meant getting proper sleep, making himself look presentable, and being _on time_. Not to mention the usual no getting into fights or pulling pranks for a while.

Instead of making the guy happy, though, his efforts only seemed to make Iruka _more_ concerned. The man kept looking at him as though he were a small puppy about to be put down and Naruto just tried his best to ignore it. He was more concerned about what was going happen on Friday at noon….

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**A/N:** Whew! This was such a busy week for me. Two test, three quizzes, and lots of homework. Somehow I survived... only to have three professors assign more work for the weekend! Argh! Anywho, such is my life and I'm managing to work with it. I wanted to get this chapter out before crunch time, though. I've really gotten into this story and I'm so glad I have an outline for it, too. What do you guys think so far? I wonder what sort of vibes the readers are picking up on. Please review and tell me your thoughts.

Next update will definitely be next Friday. Maybe even at this same time.


	5. Ch4: Rock Meets a Hard Place

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**Just to Survive**

_By: Xzotic

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_**Chapter 4:**

**_Rock Meets a Hard Place

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_**

When Friday finally came around, Naruto jumped awake with a sudden awareness that today was the day. He had debated most of the week whether or not he should go into school and risk being chewed out for skipping. He had finally decided that it would be too detrimental to his 'good behavior' plan so he'd just had to make up a reason for not being there.

Thinking about the possibility of Iruka visiting his foster home, Naruto had gone through the trouble of sneaking in and leaving a note posted on the Mizukis' bedroom door that succinctly said:

'Not going to school Friday. Cover story: out sick.'

The blond smirked at the thought of how pissed off the Mizukis would be about him sneaking into their home undetected twice in less than a week. The husband was probably foaming at the mouth over his morning coffee, he thought with glee.

Deciding that he had nothing better to do that day until noon, Naruto made his way over to Teuchi's restaurant with his duffel bag swung over his shoulder. Old man Teuchi looked up and frowned when he saw the blond walk in.

"Why aren't you in school, brat?" he growled out.

Naruto put on a smile and nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well I, um, have some important things to do today so I'm taking leave."

"I have half a mind to call the police and tell them there's a delinquent here skipping classes!"

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and horror. Maybe he _shouldn't_ have come to Teuchi's on a school day!

Teuchi glared at him for a tense moment before pointing his butcher knife at one of the bar stools. "Sit. What do you want for breakfast?"

A wide grin spread over Naruto's face at the prospect of free food and he quickly dropped his bag and jumped into one of the seats. "Miso ramen please!"

"Ramen for breakfast?" Teuchi asked dubiously. He rarely ever got a customer that asked for ramen so early. He smiled slightly and turned to shout over his shoulder. "Ayame! A special bowl for our favorite customer! Put eggs, ham, and _lots_ of vegetables!"

Naruto's eyes sparkled happily. "Ayame's home from school?"

Teuchi grinned with fatherly pride. "She's home for the weekend. No classes on Friday."

"Hmm… the more I hear about this college stuff the more I wish I could be there rather than here." Naruto's gaze looked dreamy and faraway. No class on Fridays, he thought happily.

"Well if you keep your grades and your attendance up then maybe you can be there in a couple years," Teuchi lectured sternly.

Naruto snapped to attention and wilted slightly at the disappointment he saw in the old man's gaze again. "C'mon, old man. Take it easy on me already. I'm trying the best I can over here," he groused defensively.

"No you're not, boy." Teuchi narrowed his eyes shrewdly at the blond. "Naruto, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Naruto scrunched up his face in confusion. "Hmm, well I've never really thought about that, old man. I'm usually too worried about what's happening in the present to think about the future."

"Well you need to think about that future soon!" Teuchi angrily pointed his knife at the boy as he jumped back in his seat from shock. "You're almost an adult, kid! If you don't make plans for yourself _now_ then what do you think you'll end up doing for the rest of your life?"

"Daddy! Stop pointing that knife at Naruto!"

Naruto looked over to see Ayame coming out from the kitchen with a steaming bowl and a reprimanding look cast at her father. She looked just as pretty as he remembered and he felt his face heating up with a familiar blush. "A-Ayame!" he shouted happily.

Ayame turned to him with a wide smile and set the bowl in front of him. "On the house, Naruto! How have you been?" she asked excitedly.

Naruto glanced nervously at Teuchi who'd gone back to chopping up ingredients with a bit more force than usual. "Um, alright I guess," he answered quietly.

Ayame glanced at her father as well and rolled her eyes as she leaned forward to talk conspiratorially. "He's just worried about you, Naruto. We both are. That's how Daddy gets when he's worried," she whispered.

If he hadn't been so down about the old man's anger towards him, Naruto may have been a bit more embarrassed by Ayame's closeness. As it was, he was just a little more warm than usual as he slurped up his meal.

"Ah! A new customer!" Ayame exclaimed happily. "Welcome to Ichiraku!"

Naruto glanced over curiously and nearly choked on his food when he realized who was standing in the entrance.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted lazily. He took a seat in the barstool right beside Naruto's and pretended to gaze at the menu in interest. "Hmm… ramen for breakfast? Sounds interesting. I'll have what he's having," the strange man declared, jabbing his thumb at Naruto without glancing at him even once.

"Coming right up!" Ayame beamed with slightly more enthusiasm than usual. She disappeared back into the kitchen.

Old man Teuchi had paused in chopping up some herbs and was openly glaring at the odd man with the mismatched eyes. Kakashi waved jovially at the restaurant owner with his eyes closed in bliss.

Teuchi scoffed and turned to follow his daughter back into the kitchen. "I'll let you two talk," he spat with disgust.

"Hmm? He doesn't seem to like me much," Kakashi observed blithely.

Naruto finally snapped out of his frozen state of shock. "What are you doing here, scarecrow!" he shouted with an accusing finger pointed.

Kakashi slowly turned to stare at the blond. "Scarecrow?" he asked dubiously.

"Never mind that! Why are you following me?"

Kakashi stared at him neutrally before turning away. "Why aren't you in school, Naruto?" he asked instead.

Naruto once again found himself stunned speechless by the mysterious man.

After a long moment of silence, Kakashi finally glanced over at him again with an eyebrow raised in question.

"What do you mean why aren't I in school? You know what Itachi ordered!" Naruto finally snapped. Why was this guy always asking such stupid questions?

Kakashi let out a sort of sighing 'hmm' sound and looked up as Ayame came back out with another hot bowl of special ramen. Teuchi came out behind her, apparently still in a bad temper.

"Here you are, sir! Will that be all?" Ayame asked with a sunny smile.

"Thanks," Kakashi mumbled as he idly picked up his utensils.

Naruto watched intently from the corner of his eye as the silver haired man raised the bowl closer to his face. He was more than a little curious about what the man looked like underneath that mask.

At that precise moment, unfortunately, Teuchi launched another knife- just a hair's breath away from slicing Naruto's nose- and the youth snapped to attention in fright as the knife imbedded itself into the wall beside him with a loud '_thunk_'. The old man had never thrown a knife _that_ close before! "What the heck was that for, old man!" he cried out, his young voice cracking slightly in fear.

"Dad!" Ayame exclaimed. "What did I tell you about throwing knives? Especially now that you have arthritis!"

Teuchi ignored his fuming daughter and kept his gaze pierced on Naruto's bright blue eyes. "If I ever catch you skipping classes again to hang out with men like him," here Teuchi gesticulated in Kakashi's direction with another knife, "you can forget about getting another free meal from me. Understood, Naruto?"

Naruto stared at the angry chef with very wide eyes. Teuchi was well liked throughout the city but everyone knew that the old man had had one hell of a dark past (as evidenced by his tendency to lob knives when he got into a temper). Somewhere along the line, Teuchi had gotten married to one saint of a woman, raised one of the sweetest daughters in the world, became a chef and his own boss, and led a clean life from then on. The look in his eyes as he stared a hole through Naruto's head suggested that he was on the verge of snapping that chain and murdering the teenaged boy if he stepped one toe out of line. Naruto gulped and smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Y-yes sir!" he managed to answer.

Teuchi nodded resolutely and went back to chopping up his herbs and vegetables. Ayame let out an exasperated noise and shook her head as she returned to the kitchen.

Kakashi closed his eyes pleasantly as he placed an empty bowl back on the bar and Naruto felt resentment towards both adults in the room as he realized that on top of everything, he'd missed his opportunity to catch the sneaky scarecrow unmasked.

"Looks like you have some very concerned people looking out for you, Naruto," Kakashi commented blithely.

Naruto was too sullen to respond.

"I spoke with someone at your high school earlier this week. He seemed fairly concerned about you as well."

Naruto's head whipped around so fast, Kakashi was surprised he didn't sprain his neck. "What the heck were you doing at my high school? How do you even know which high school I go to?" he demanded suspiciously.

"Well," Kakashi answered dryly, "let's see. Itachi had one of his underlings tail you one day. And on a whim he asked me to do some investigating. See whether or not you were in good standing at school, if you missed a lot of days… that sort of thing."

Naruto's face couldn't have been anymore horrified. Why the heck would Itachi want to know all that?

"So I met this really nice guidance counselor there. Apparently he mistook me to be your foster father due to the similar hair tones because it was fairly easy to get information out of him. Poor attendance, weak grades in Language and History but surprisingly good grades in math…. also, the teachers apparently complain a lot about your negative interactions with other students and your apparently short fuse…"

Naruto watched in a sort of dazed fascination as the man he'd only met a few days ago listed off things about his life that not even he knew. He could feel the cold hands of terror creeping up his spine and latching on to all of his vital organs. A quick, fearful glance at the closest exit was as far as he got before Kakashi's expressionless face was menacingly close to his, cutting off all possibilities of escape.

"Now I've seen brats much younger than you get killed for making the same stupid mistake you're about to make," Kakashi suddenly growled, low and predatorily, "but unlike you, those kids had no one to tell them better. Skipping school to go prancing around in someone like Itachi's backyard is the same as spitting in the faces of all the people that concern themselves with you, kid."

The terror slowly ebbed away from Naruto's body to be replaced by utter confusion. Who the heck was this Kakashi guy? He didn't sound like someone who was simply following orders from Itachi. Was he missing something here?

Naruto's brow furrowed from the stress he felt. "Even if you say all that," he groused, "it wouldn't be very smart to disobey Itachi without expecting punishment. I don't know if I'm prepared to face Itachi Uchiha's form of punishment."

Kakashi straightened in his seat and gave Naruto the chance to distance himself. "I guess I pegged you as being a little more stubborn than that. I had your cover story all worked out in case you decided not to show up."

Naruto was once again shocked but he tried not to show it this time. "Thanks, but that really wasn't necessary," he replied with feigned indifference. "I need the money so either way I would have come anyway."

Kakashi said nothing more on the subject. Instead, he pulled out a small wad of cash and placed it beside his empty bowl. "Keep the change, sir," he called out to Teuchi's angry form as he stood and turned to leave. "Let's go kid," he mumbled dispassionately.

Checking the clock that hung above the bar, Naruto realized that it was already 11:30. He quickly grabbed his duffel bag and jumped out of his seat to catch up with the weird man with the freakishly long legs. "See ya, old man!" he shouted before the door slammed close behind him.

***

Kakashi didn't say a single word or even look at him until they reached Sound Street, the worse block in the entire city. Naruto grumbled and challengingly met the eyes of every single person that looked at his duffel bag for too long. After passing an intersection, Kakashi suddenly slowed his pace and gestured towards a parked vehicle. "That's the car we're going to. Keep your head low and your eyes open."

Naruto nodded and surreptitiously glanced at the vehicle as they slowly approached. It was heavily tinted but was in dire need of a paint job. What the heck were they supposed to do with that thing?

Kakashi opened the backseat door and glanced around intently as he waited for Naruto to slip inside first.

Stamping down on a sudden burst of nerves, Naruto quickly jumped inside. He almost turned right back around when he realized who was waiting for him.

"Hiya, brat. Long time no see," Kisame greeted with a feral grin.

Naruto turned to Kakashi as he slid in and closed the door behind him. "What the hell is fish-face doing here?" he demanded irritably.

"Did you bring the package," Kakashi demanded of Kisame, ignoring the youth's outburst.

"No, I'm just sitting on this curb watching the transvestite prostitutes walk by," Kisame mumbled sarcastically. When Kakashi just eyed him blankly he rolled his eyes. "Of _course_ I brought the bloody package!"

Naruto watched as Kisame produced two box-shaped packages wrapped in brown paper and five smaller, brick-shaped packages. "Here, brat, put these in your bag," Kisame ordered as he handed the items to him.

Kakashi eyed his wristwatch impatiently and sighed. "Is that it? It's almost noon."

"Just a sec," Kisame grumbled groping around in his long trench coat for something else.

Naruto had carefully packed the surprisingly lightweight items into his duffel bag and was just zipping it up when something cold and metal nudged his wrist. His eyes focused on the object slowly and he felt his pulse jump when he realized that Kisame was handing him a small handgun.

"There you go, brat. A gift from Itachi in case things get messy. And, oh yeah!" He took out his wallet and withdrew a crisp, one hundred dollar bill. "There's your payment. Half now and half when the job's complete. That's how the professionals do it." Kisame's grin was full of dark humor.

Naruto stared at the bill in amazement but his eyes eventually drifted back to the gun in his other hand and he quietly stuffed the money into his pants pocket. Best not to let the only money he had get mixed up with whatever packages he would be delivering, he thought with grim resolve. He was trying his best not to think about what carrying a gun meant to him.

"Let's go," Kakashi suddenly growled.

Naruto nodded and quickly stuffed the gun inside his orange and black jacket before grabbing his duffel bag.

"Have fun, gentlemen," Kisame chuckled.

Neither Naruto nor Kakashi said a word in response as they left the car.

***

"Give me the gun."

Naruto almost walked straight into Kakashi's back when he stopped suddenly. He looked up to see that they were standing in front of a tall chain link fence in the back of an empty alley. He noticed that Kakashi's hand was outstretched and he stared at it dubiously. "Huh?"

Kakashi sighed at his slow response. "The gun. Give it to me," he reiterated.

"B-But why?"

"Just hand it over. A 16 year-old kid has no business toting a firearm."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the silver-haired man. "If I'm going to do whatever this is, I'm taking whatever form of protection I can get," he declared stubbornly.

Kakashi eyed him critically and seemed to resign himself to something. "Fine," he grumbled, still holding out his hand, "but let me see it anyway."

Naruto recognized that it wasn't a request. The scarecrow was not planning to budge until the gun was handed over. A little wary of the man's intentions, Naruto carefully reached into his jacket and pulled out the small gun.

Kakashi quickly snatched it up and turned to the side as surprisingly nimble fingers uncocked the barrel and worked the magazine loose. He quickly dumped all of the bullets into one hand and slammed the empty magazine back into place before flipping on the safety and tossing the weapon back at a slightly awed teen.

"At 16 you don't decide who lives or dies. No matter what the circumstances you leave those types of decisions up to the people that understand what it is to take a life. Got that?" Kakashi drawled as he placed the extra bullets in a side pocket.

Naruto nodded dumbly.

"Good." With that, Kakashi opened the gate and walked purposefully through with both hands stuffed in his pants pockets.

Naruto slowly followed, stuffing the unloaded gun back into his jacket and carefully hefting his duffel bag. The two of them walked past two men standing watch at the end of a dark passageway and one of them grinned at Kakashi who nodded in return. They entered a wide open clearing behind the tall brick wall of an apparently abandoned building and there Naruto saw two men standing in the middle with at least a dozen guys positioned further back, two guarding an entrance on that side.

The men standing in the middle both had their arms crossed and wore similar long black trench coats. One was taller with dark red hair and a mask covering the lower portion of his face. From the wrinkles around his eyes, Naruto estimated that he was at least in his late thirties. The other man was much younger, early twenties maybe, with dull blond hair and an eye patch over one eye.

"Hey, look boss, they finally showed up," the blond chirped happily.

"I hate being kept waiting," the masked figure growled out ominously.

Kakashi said nothing as he approached a point that was at least thirty feet away from the two. With his hands still stuffed in his pockets and his lazy posture slightly hunched, the silver haired man looked down at Naruto, careful to keep the other two men in his line of sight as well.

"Listen carefully, kid. You're going to meet the man with the missing eye at exactly the halfway mark between me and the red head. Wait until the other guy unzips his bag and slides it over, then you unzip yours and complete the trade. Understood?"

Naruto nodded solemnly and started to move forward but stopped when Kakashi suddenly grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip. He looked up at the mysterious man in question.

Kakashi turned his entire focus on Naruto's face for a quick second and lowered his voice even further. "Whatever you do," he warned, "move away from them as _soon_ as the exchange is complete." With that said, Kakashi pushed him forward slightly and focused his attention back onto their strange clients.

Naruto could feel his hands starting to shake slightly. The way Kakashi was acting was making him ten times more nervous than he'd thought he would be. These sorts of trades were always risky thanks to the pure cynicism and lack of trust on both sides but there was usually only a _slim_ chance that there would be any bloodshed. Why was Kakashi behaving as though he _expected_ there to be bloodshed?

Resolving to ignore his apprehension so he could hurry up and put this whole incident behind him, Naruto moved forward. He watched as the other blond matched his stride so that they met in the middle at exactly the same time.

"Lovely day, isn't it?" the one-eyed man grinned disarmingly.

"Right," Naruto replied absently.

"It's days like this that I wish I could be blowing something up…" the other blond continued with a dreamy expression on his face.

Naruto cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at the weird man. "Riiiigght…." He mumbled carefully. "Um, how about we get this over with?"

"Oh! Sure, sure!" the man unzipped his own duffel bag and Naruto's eyes almost bugged out when he realized that the entire thing was full of huge bundles of cash. "You know, Mr. Sasori told me that he thinks he's seen your partner before… very interesting story. I doubt Mr. Kakashi even realizes how popular he is."

Naruto tried not to roll his eyes. Why did this guy insist on talking so much when all he wanted to do was get this whole experience over with? "That's great. I'll be sure to point that out for him," he answered noncommittally. He deftly unzipped his own bag, taking Kakashi's warnings to heart as he kept both eyes trained on the strange man.

As soon as the guy tossed the duffel bag of money at Naruto, Naruto slid the paper-wrapped packages over to him and prepared to move away. The sudden sounds of two loud clicks had him looking over the other blond's shoulder with wide eyes. The red haired man had a large handgun aimed at Kakashi and Naruto whipped his head around in fear to see that Kakashi had an equally dead aim at the man named Sasori. A third click broke his gaze and he turned back in horror to see the man he'd just traded with leveling his own gun at him within point-blank range.

"Naruto," Kakashi growled out in a low, steady voice. "Back away slowly from him. Make no sudden moves and leave the duffel bag. Deidara won't do anything stupid if he wants to keep his brains from splattering all over this clearing."

Naruto could feel the sweat breaking out all over his body as he shakily did as he was told and moved back. His frightened eyes saw nothing but the wide barrel of the gun that was pointed at him. The man, Deidara, didn't move an inch but continued to smile disarmingly.

"Naruto was it?" he called out jovially as Naruto backed further and further away. "Itachi must really be losing it if he's got little boys working for him. But thank you for being here, Naruto, because without you I doubt we'd be able to get away." Deidara glanced at Kakashi from the corners of his eyes and smirked. "Right, Mr. Kakashi?"

Naruto realized what was about to happen almost too late. He only saw a slight twitch of Deidara's steady hand before he dived to the side as a loud '_bang!_' echoed all around the clearing followed by a free-for-all open fire.

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**A/N: **Happy Thanksgiving All!!! I decided to upload before the holiday since I know I'll be far too busy with the festivities to remember later.

As you can see, this is my longest chapter so far for this story and it was really about to be even longer since I couldn't decide where to stop! lol. Very bleak times are ahead, though, so you're all forewarned! What will happen to Naruto? Who is Kakashi? Um... why is Teuchi constantly throwing knives at poor Naruto? ...Okay, so I've altered ramen master Teuchi's character quite a bit but please don't hate me for it. He serves a much better purpose to the story this way, don't you think?

Anywho, let me know how you think it's shaping up so far! Oh! And to one of my reviewers who requested a nice Naruto/Hinata pairing, you'll have to forgive me because while I would love to grant your wish for this story, Hinata unfortunately doesn't make an appearance in Naruto's junior year for reasons that will be later explained. Also, Naruto's going to be dealing with too much drama to be able to start up a proper romance right now. However, don't discount your hopes on at least a _little_ romance occurring in this story.

And with that all said... please review!!! ^_^


	6. Ch5: The Jig is Up

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**Just to Survive**

_By: Xzotic_

_

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_**Chapter 5:_ The Jig is Up_**

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_**

Kakashi was cursing the entire situation futilely. As soon as Deidara opened fire on the brat, he dropped to the ground and shot at both criminals with deadly aim. He grabbed the mic from his breast pocket and angrily shouted the command "all units move in! NOW!"

The kid was only a few feet in front of him, sprawled out on the concrete motionlessly. Deidara and Sasori were trying to make a break for the exit on their side but Kakashi knew that that area was heavily swamped with his people. He wouldn't have to worry about them escaping. His number one priority right then was to make sure Naruto was alright.

Angrily, he stomped over to the kid and turned him onto his side. He'd tried his best to keep young Naruto from getting involved in all of this. Iruka Umino had sworn to him the day before yesterday that he'd keep a close eye on the troublesome kid but here he was almost singlehandedly ruining an operation that had been planned out for months. Kakashi really hated kids. Why did they always cause so much trouble?

As Naruto rolled onto his back, Kakashi was glad to see that there was no blood on his clothes or on the ground. The kid must have been lucky enough to dodge the bullet.

"Stand up," he ordered roughly.

Naruto snapped out of his frozen stupor at the anger in the older man's voice and blinked rapidly to clear his vision. "Wha- What happened? Where'd they go?" he asked worriedly as he slowly climbed to his feet and looked around. He noticed a bunch of guys swarming into the clearing from both sides, all of them wearing black vests that read 'S.W.A.T.' on the back. "What's going on?" he asked dazedly.

"You're really lucky kid. Deidara was aiming to kill," Kakashi deadpanned. "Next time some drug lord asks you to do a job for him, I hope you're not dumb enough to go along with it a _second_ time."

Naruto snapped his eyes up to Kakashi, confusion written all over his face. "What are you talking about?"

Before Kakashi could even so much as sigh, one of his subordinates ambled up to him with a sharp salute in greeting. "Captain," the man said, "Sasori and Deidara have been detained. Intelligence says that Itachi and his men went quietly as well. It appears they were taken by surprise."

Kakashi tilted his head in thought. "I doubt that," he said with a slight 'hmm.' "But as long as they're all caught that means this nightmare is almost over. Go get Teri and the rest of her team in here with their equipment. Tell her we have a possible bomb in the money bag, approximate time has been 4.5 minutes."

"Yes, sir!" the man quickly shouted and ran off to do as asked.

Kakashi turned to address the kid again and was surprised to see that he'd been slowly backing away from him the entire time he'd been talking. His strange, mismatched eyes narrowed slightly. "Where you going, kid?" he demanded.

Naruto backed away even faster, fear in his eyes. "You're…" he pointed a finger at him accusingly, "You're a _cop_!"

An annoyed sigh escaped from Kakashi's mouth. "Yes, Naruto, I'm a S.W.A.T. officer. Wouldn't it make sense to be more afraid of drug and arms dealers than someone like me? Why don't you come with me back to the station so we can have a little chat?"

Naruto gave a little jump at his words. "No!" he shouted angrily, "You're _not_ going to lock me up in another stupid facility!"

"Be reasonable, kid. I'm not going to make you do anything. But think. Where are you going to go? You can't just go running around the streets and sleeping in abandoned buildings. Like it or not, you're a minor. The state has a priority to make sure you _don't_ have to live like that!"

"I've been fine on my own so far. Much better than I ever was at that stupid orphanage. I'm _not_ going back!" As Naruto finished shouting, he quickly turned on his heal and took off at a desperate run.

"Kid! Get back here!" Kakashi shouted, unable to give chase as a group of officers suddenly passed in front of him. "Someone stop the rugrat!" he ordered angrily but watched as a few officers futilely tried to make a grab for the extremely fast blond. In only a few seconds, Naruto Uzumaki was long gone….

***

It was five in the evening when Iruka Umino was just leaving Green Leaf to drive home. He was stepping outside when he saw the strange man he'd met just a few days prior leaning against a light post patiently.

"Captain Hatake, was it?" Iruka asked dubiously.

Kakashi stood straight and met the high school guidance counselor's eyes with a serious look.

It took Iruka's tired brain less than a second to realize what this visit could mean. Naruto hadn't come to school today just like the Captain had warned him might happen. At first, he'd been worried sick but he'd had his hands full with a new, bigger problem ever since the first lunch period… when drugs had been discovered in the courtyard. They weren't illegal drugs but they were falsely labeled prescription drugs that had terrible side effects. After much investigation, the school guards had discovered that the pills belonged to a senior named Kimimaro Kaguya. Iruka had been in counsel with the boy for most of the day and had unraveled some despairing facts about his past and home life that had led him down such a dark path.

After fighting with the board on the bases that Mr. Kimimaro was a minor and a graduating senior. Iruka had been able to reduce his sentence from expulsion and imprisonment to two month's suspension from classes (in which he, of course, would have to keep up with assignments) to be accompanied with a mandatory stay at a rehabilitation facility and one overnight lockup in the local county jail. Kimimaro himself expressed very little emotion on the matter.

Now, as Iruka took in the look on Kakashi's face and realized that Naruto had been in danger all this time, he could feel his heart start to beat frantically and his chest constricted with fear. "Where is he," he choked out, "Where's Naruto?"

***

After only a few hours on the run, Naruto was feeling dead tired and more than a little hungry. He despaired at the thought that the free meal he'd gotten from old man Teuchi just that morning may have been the last warm and decent meal he was likely to have for a while.

So much had been going through Naruto's head after his decision to run. What about school? What about the promise he'd just made to Teuchi? How long could he realistically stay on the run from everybody with only a hundred dollars in cash? All of these things plagued his mind and yet every time he saw an officer or a squad car he instinctively turned in the opposite direction.

There was nothing he could really do. He didn't want to drop out of school and he didn't want to disappoint old man Teuchi again but there was no way in hell he was going to allow the alternative to happen.

Memories of his days at the orphanage assailed his mind and Naruto had to stop moving as a wave of nausea rushed through him. From the time of his birth until age twelve when he'd been saddled with the first and only family to ever foster him, Naruto had lived out his days in a state of constant vigilance. The caretakers at the facility had enjoyed torturing the young, helpless boy that he had been. They'd turned all of the other children against him and he had been forced to endure day after day of beatings from multiple sources. Sometimes an entire group of kids - some of them younger than him but stronger since they were fed properly - would gang up and beat him into submission. Naruto had been forced to spend much of his time there attempting to hide in order to nurse his many injuries.

The vicious game of hide and seek that the other kids used to play with him still gave him nightmares even now. The slapping sound of a meter stick as it's slammed against a table threateningly still gives him rapid chills as it used to be the weapon of choice to start his beatings with. Nothing scared the 16-year-old boy more than hearing that terrible sound from his childhood.

To keep himself fed at least once a day, he'd also been forced to learn how to steal: slight of hand and blending into the scenery even while wearing the brightest colors of the rainbow had become two of his best skills.

To this day, Naruto was absolutely mystified about why they'd all hated him so much and why no one but the Mizukis had bothered with taking him in. There was something to be said about a boy who could still smile and laugh after experiencing all of that but he became more than just a little hysterical at the thought of being forced to go back to that life. He didn't care if he had to live out the rest of his days in hiding, there was absolutely no way he could put his life in the hands of another stranger like that.

***

It had only taken a few minutes to fill Iruka in on the events that had led to Naruto's disappearance but by the time he was done, it had looked as if the poor guidance counselor had aged ten years. After reassuring the poor man that he was on the case until the brat was found, Kakashi decided to leave off questioning the poor guy until a later time. He had a much more satisfying job to do now that he had no concerns about blowing his cover.

As he knocked on the nice, cherry oak door of the rural, suburban home, Kakashi tried to reign in his formidable temper. It took quite a lot to make Kakashi Hatake mad but if you were unlucky enough to accomplish that feet then you'd better have a coffin nicely picked out for yourself because you were as good as dead.

The door opened and a man with white hair poked his head through curiously. "Umm, can I help you?"

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. People always express reservations when they first meet him due to his mismatched eyes and the somewhat suspicious mask he habitually wore. He rarely ever bothered to assuage those people's fears, however. If he cast a frightening picture to a grown man who abused little boys then it would only help to serve his purpose.

"Are you Touji Mizuki?" Kakashi deadpanned.

Mizuki slowly nodded his head with slightly wider eyes.

Kakashi flashed his captain's badge and watched the man start to tense considerably. "I'd like to ask you a few questions, Mr. Mizuki," Kakashi purred with a deadly glint in his eyes. "May I come in?"

Mizuki looked over his shoulder nervously and back to the calmly waiting officer. "The boy isn't here right now. He won't be home until later."

"I'm sure he won't be," Kakashi muttered sarcastically. He stoically put his badge away and stepped through the doorway and into the Mizukis' home as though he'd been warmly invited.

"I'd like to take a look around young Naruto's room, if you don't mind. Why don't you join me, Mr. Mizuki, I have a few questions to ask you." Kakashi spoke with cold steel in his voice and his words as he led the way up the stairs of the Mizuki home left no doubt that he was making orders not requests.

"I-I don't think you're allowed to do this, sir!" Mizuki shouted after him as he followed. "You don't have a warrant!"

"Hmm?" Kakashi lazily mumbled as he opened the first door he came to and checked inside. It was just the hallway bathroom. "You say something?" he asked as he blithely moved on to the next door. This one was locked and Kakashi didn't hesitate in standing back and slamming into the door with a forceful kick that broke the doorframe and put a huge hole in the door.

"HEY!" Mizuki shouted indignantly. "That's it! I'm calling 9-1-1!"

Kakashi easily grabbed the man by the back of his shirt and dragged him into the small bedroom with him. "I _am_ 9-1-1," he growled, letting his anger pierce through his cool façade finally. "And I suggest that you sit down and be grateful that I haven't already slapped the cuffs on, Mizuki." With that, Kakashi threw the grown man onto the neatly made bed with a flick of his wrist.

Touji Mizuki was wide-eyed and breathing heavily as he watched the scary policeman poke around the room.

"This is an awfully neat room, Mr. Mizuki. I don't think anyone would expect a 16-year-old kid like Naruto Uzumaki to keep his room _this_ spotless."

"W-we…" Mizuki gulped audibly as he tried to choke out his words. "We, um, make him clean his room twice a week."

"Hmm…" Kakashi commented absently as he continued to poke around the showroom. "Why wasn't Naruto at school today?" he asked as he opened the closet doors.

"He was feeling sick this morning," Mizuki answered immediately. He let out a sigh as he considered the possibility that this police officer was only bluffing. He was probably only here because the stupid brat had missed a day of school, he thought hopefully. No need to panic.

Kakashi smirked as he observed the man's sudden look of relief from the corner of his eye. Touji Mizuki was the worse kind of con artist. It would be all too easy to corner the bastard, he thought as he pretended to sift through the neatly hanging clothes in the small walk-in closet as though he were looking for something.

"And where did you say Naruto was again, Mr. Mizuki?" he asked nonchalantly.

The smile on Mizuki's face seemed to develop an awkward twitch. "O-oh, u-um, I believe he said he would be out with friends," he stuttered out lamely.

"Really?" Kakashi peeked over at him with an innocent look of curiosity. "Neighborhood friends or school friends?"

"School," Mizuki immediately responded. He quickly decided that the officer could easily spot the lie if he'd said Naruto was with friends in such a small neighborhood. The school, on the other hand, was too big to be able to pinpoint a specific group of 'friends' for the brat.

"Hmm… that's interesting." Kakashi calmly turned to face Touji Mizuki with a hand rubbing his chin in thought. He looked the sweating, slightly twitchy man in the eyes and slowly moved closer. "You said that Naruto was too sick to attend classes this morning, correct?"

Mizuki's eyes widened slightly in fear but he managed a small nod. He realized the slight slip-up in his story but he hoped that the officer wouldn't make it a big deal.

"So then," Kakashi drawled as he stopped right in front of his seated prey and stared down at him coldly. "Why would he be too sick to attend his regular classes but still be able to meet up with friends, not even from this neighborhood, and stay out until much later than regular business hours?"

"Well, a-a-actually-"

"And furthermore," Kakashi growled, viciously cutting the shaking man off, "if a sick child stayed in this very room all day while his school friends were in school and his parents presumably at work, why is there absolutely no sign in this room of his presence?"

"L-like I said b-before-"

"Cleaning a child's room only twice a week, Mr. Mizuki, should not mean that a specially trained police officer comes in here and is unable to find a single fingerprint on any surface. Even the hotspots such as that gaming system you have hooked up or that small computer sitting on the desk over there – both distractions that I would expect a child who stayed home on a school day to make use of – are covered in a light coat of dust without a single spot or smudge anywhere.

If you're telling me, the captain of the first division S.W.A.T. team of Kage city, that a blond, 16-year-old boy sleeps in this room every single night, cleans it twice a week, and moves in and out of that bedroom door at least three times a day then we have a very big problem here, Mr. Mizuki. There's not a drop of that boy's DNA in this room and the hinges on that door were way too tight to have seen that much regular use. Which leaves me to believe that you are lying to me." Kakashi cracked his knuckles threateningly as he stared the man down. "And you don't want to know what happens when someone lies to me."

Mizuki's eyes looked large and watery as he glanced back and forth from the angry man to the broken door. He was frantically trying to figure out how he had come under the radar of this high-ranking official. What had set this man off? "I… I-I-"

"You're foster son, Mr. Mizuki, has been missing since 12:15 this afternoon. He has not slept in this home for at _least_ a week. I suspect that it's been much longer. Then add to the facts that I have evidence of the kid sleeping in abandoned buildings and alleyways in this lovely fall weather and I'd say that you and Mrs. Mizuki are in very real trouble." Kakashi pulled out a pair of handcuffs and scowled menacingly at the pathetic man. "Why don't we take a trip outside to the squad cars that are waiting to pick you up? I'm sure your wife's already waiting for us in her cozy little cell at the station."

As Mizuki watched the frightening man loom closer, those freaky mismatched eyes narrowed, he realized that he was in very _big_ trouble….

* * *

**A/N: **Wow... school is over... I just don't know what to do with myself right now. As soon as I get used to it, though, spring semester will start. Anywho, several things happened in this chapter that are key elements to the plot of this story. First, of course, you finally know Kakashi's real identity (I debated whether or not to call it SWAT or ANBU but I thought it was best to let there be a division between the Naruto-verse and my AU). Also take note that Kakashi alludes to the fact that brats are always causing him trouble.... I also gave you a small glimpse of what Naruto's life was like at the orphanage (and there will be more of those pleasant little flashbacks) and why he's behaving the way he is.

I'm trying to make all of the elements come together as neatly as possible but if there's anything that you all find a little hazy please let me know as it means I haven't touched on something clearly enough (aside from the mystery of Naruto's life, of course). Thanks for reading and please review!


	7. Ch6: Good Heart Sad Soul

* * *

**Just to Survive**

_By: Xzotic_

_

* * *

_**Chapter 6:**

**_A Good Heart and a Sad Soul_**

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_**

As the days blurred by, Iruka came to the realization that he'd become even more attached to Naruto than he'd ever thought he would. He was losing sleep sitting up at night worrying about where the teenager could be. The days had gotten colder and the nights longer and still no one had been able to find a trace of him. Iruka didn't want to think of the things that could have happened to the blond in the past three weeks that he'd been missing.

It was Monday morning and somehow Iruka had managed to drag himself out of his small townhome and drive to the school in his state of half-wakefulness. But as he was walking up to the entrance of the school, the young man realized that there was somebody waiting for him just outside of the large double doors.

"Iruka," Principal Sarutobi greeted somberly, "I'd like to see you in my office. There's something very important we need to discuss."

The young guidance counselor's eyes widened and he felt his heart begin to thump as he thought of all the terrible things Principal Sarutobi could have to say.

As he followed the older man's lead, his body moving automatically as a sudden coldness gripped his limbs, Iruka thought only of one thing. Had they found Naruto's body laying somewhere?

***

As he sat shivering near the mouth of a random alleyway, the blond ruefully reflected that he had been in worse conditions before. The attic in his old orphanage, while a perfect hiding place, had been terribly drafty and open to the worst winter climate. He remembered blacking out as he leaned against the rafters up there only to awake later with his limbs stiff and numbed from the cold, hunger, and pain.

Naruto let out a world-weary sigh. Life hadn't improved much for him since then, had it, he thought to himself. He had pushed on for all these years with the constant belief that things would get better. He would prove himself… prove to the _world_ that he was worth something, right? Isn't that what he'd been living by?

With a sad smile, Naruto looked around at his surroundings taking in the littered ground, the graffiti-coated walls, and the pungent smell of drugs, alcohol, and urine. How was he ever going to prove _any_thing if places like these were the only places that were safe for him? Why wasn't he welcome anywhere else? Why couldn't he live on his own terms for once without some stupid adult getting in his way?

Feeling like the frustration might burn him alive, he forcefully squeezed his eyes closed and leaned his head back against the cold brick wall to shut out the world. If he had had an ounce of common sense, he would have ended all of this pain years ago. For someone like him who'd never had a family, never had any friends (crazy old man Teuchi aside), and never had a _chance_ at anything, suicide only naturally seemed like his brightest option.

It's too bad he was born so stubborn, he thought with a self-deprecating smirk. His dark humor was interrupted quite suddenly by the sound of a loud scream. His blue eyes popped open and immediately honed in on the shock of pink hair in the otherwise gray scenery. "Sakura…?" he whispered faintly in shock.

The junior class president was standing in the middle of the sidewalk just across the street, angrily kicking and screaming at the group of men who were bothering her. Everyone else was ignoring the entire scene, going about their own business as if a petite teenage girl wasn't getting assaulted right within their midst.

Naruto felt his hackles rise from the intensity of his anger. He was up and running across the street before he'd even taken full stock of the situation. "HEY!" he shouted angrily. The three men who stood rifling through Sakura's belongings looked up, but the fourth, who was having too much fun grabbing at Sakura's arms and waist, didn't seem to notice his angry approach.

Cocking a fist back in his outrage, Naruto didn't even think about slowing his momentum. How _dare_ they mess with the _one_ person his own age who had even come _close_ to acknowledging him? His fist went flying at the tall bastard who was holding her and he felt a satisfying crunch as he twisted his fist into the man's face. His victim went crashing into a heap of garbage bags propped against the side of a building and didn't get back up.

Sakura swung around in shock and her moistened green eyes widened at the sight of him. "Naruto!" she cried, grabbing at his dirty jacket sleeve. "It's really you!"

Naruto kept his eyes trained on the three men standing behind her and felt his heart drop in dismay as he watched them each pull out expensive-looking switch blades. He was in no condition to fight three full-grown men with weapons. He hadn't had a proper meal in three days, his bones were weak and shaking from the constant cold weather, and he hadn't slept well ever since he'd been on the run. It was really all he could do to stay standing now that the adrenaline rush from seeing Sakura in danger had started to fade.

"You're going to really regret sticking your nose where it doesn't belong you little brat!"

Naruto weakly pushed Sakura behind him and whispered a quick "don't move." He felt her grip the back of his jacket in fear and he watched as the three men approached in unison as he pondered his rotten luck.

The man in the middle lunged first, aiming for a quick slash across his chest but he stumbled back just in time, pushing Sakura further back before lunging forward and aiming to knock the weapon out of the man's right hand. It was a failed attempt and instead he had to try and avoid the dual attacks from the other two men, managing to get away with a shallow cut across his left cheek.

He heard Sakura gasp behind him but had no time to pay it any attention as all three men came at him as one. Knowing he didn't stand a chance in his weakened state, the blond leapt forward, ignoring the pain as one of the knives stabbed him right through the shoulder, and furiously tackled the man in the middle, knocking him to the ground. The man frantically swiped at him but Naruto caught the sharp knife in a bloodied hand and proceeded to punch the guy's face in to his heart's content.

In the background, Naruto heard the suspicious sounds of bare fists pummeling human flesh and turned around once he'd assured himself that his own victim had been knocked unconscious. He met eyes with a scowling dark-haired boy who stood over the prone, twitching bodies of the other two men.

Pulling himself slowly to his feet, Naruto felt himself sway precariously as he watched the disagreeable boy approach the pink-haired girl who sat crying on the side of the street. "Who…" he mumbled weakly, watching in alarm as the world started to fade to black around the edges of his vision.

The dark-haired, dark-eyed youth glanced back at him over his shoulder. "Uchiha, Sasuke," he answered arrogantly.

It was the last thing Naruto heard before the darkness completely consumed him.

***

Kakashi had gotten the news less than an hour ago while he'd been sitting at his desk signing the never-ending pile of papers that his secretary supplied. Paperwork was one of the many downsides to being captain of a squad but his superiors wouldn't hear any of his arguments about going back to Lieutenant; he'd talked his way out of two promotions as it was. Like it or not, paperwork and social niceties were a necessary evil if he wanted to stay in his current line of work. He grumbled about the duality of his situation as he walked through the doors of Kage Central Hospital.

Glancing around at the busy waiting room, Kakashi made his way up to the front desk and waited for the nurse to acknowledge him. When she finally looked up she seemed to do a double take before blushing and stammering out a greeting. Kakashi merely rolled his eyes; this is why he always wore his face mask. That and it was convenient to never let his enemies see his entire face.

With a lazy smile on his lips, the white haired SWAT captain politely asked for the room number of the brat he'd come to visit and gave a mock salute in farewell once he had his information. As soon as he passed through the double doors leading to the hospital rooms, he immediately pulled his face mask up and into place.

Honestly, that brat had caused him more than enough trouble for a lifetime, he thought acerbically. If he had listened to him in the first place, maybe his scrawny butt wouldn't have ended up in the hospital. Kakashi snorted softly at the thought. Then again, maybe the brat would've wound up here anyway after he was forced to pound into him for being an annoying know-it-all.

After scaling the stairs to the third floor and walking down the correct corridor, Kakashi found himself standing in front of the right doors. With his eyes half-closed and his shoulders slouched, the young captain walked in and met the glaring eyes of his young, rebellious charge.

"Yo," he greeted simply, moving to the side of the bed.

Sasuke looked angry as he turned away. "I told them not to call you."

Kakashi's eyes crinkled with amusement. "I see they still have me listed as your 'in case of emergency' person, then. No getting around that. You are a minor, still, after all."

Sasuke snorted. "Are you going to drag me back home with you or are you going to turn me over to the company head?"

Kakashi tried not to sigh at the brat's prissy little attitude. "Sasuke… we've been over this before. For whatever cooked up reason, your mom named me in charge of you. Which means that no matter what you do to piss me off and test my patience, the CEO of your family's company has no business knowing about it. I'm all you've got right now, kid."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose with slight distaste. "You don't have to say it like that," he protested.

Kakashi let his gaze fall on his charge's bandaged right hand and the IV sticking into his arm. "What did you get into this time, kid?"

The youth looked over at him this time with solemn eyes, not a trace of animosity in his gaze. "I just had to get away from it all, Kakashi," he admitted heavily. "All I ever do is think about what happened. The fact that that bastard is still out there somewhere…."

Kakashi watched as the troubled teen lowered his head, overcome with emotion. It was the same problem every time. Sasuke had witnessed such a traumatizing event that Kakashi wasn't sure if he'd _ever_ be able to move on. Living with someone who dealt with traumatizing situations like that for a living didn't seem to help matters. Sometimes Kakashi worried that he wasn't doing enough for the kid with his limited experience on family. And the horrors he'd seen on the job had ultimately desensitized him to certain things too, after all.

The white-haired captain scratched his head dubiously as he settled on disclosing something with the brat. "Listen, Sasuke," he mumbled seriously, "something happened while you were gone."

Sasuke perked up at the news, looking up at his legal guardian with wide eyes. "What? What happened?" he demanded. It had to be something serious. He thought of his family's company… the only thing he had left of his parents' legacy.

Kakashi hesitated but ultimately decided that there was no reason to keep this from the boy. "Itachi was captured about three weeks ago," he blurted out plainly. "He's being held without bail on multiple counts of racketeering, money laundering, fraud-"

"What about _murder_!" Sasuke shouted angrily.

This time Kakashi did let out his sigh. "We've been over that before, Sasuke. There is no proof."

"_I'm_ your proof! I was _there_!"

"Look," Kakashi took a seat on the edge of the bed as he tried to talk reason with the poor kid. "We have Itachi on enough charges to put him away for a very long time. That's the best I can do for you, kid."

Sasuke turned his head away petulantly. "I should've never come here. If that stupid blond idiot hadn't been so reckless I would've never been forced to come here in the first place and have those stupid doctors call _you_!"

Blond idiot? Kakashi thought to himself curiously. "This blond idiot… was he about your age with blue eyes? Goes by the name of Naruto?"

Sasuke looked only slightly surprised. "Yeah… that's what the girl kept calling him. Why?"

Kakashi felt a weight fall off of his shoulders and sagged slightly in relief. "I've been looking everywhere for that brat. Thought he was dead. You brought him here? Is he alright?"

Sasuke shrugged uncaringly. "They carted him away and dragged me off before I could say anything. The doctor says I'm severely malnourished by the way. I think he wants to have a chat with you."

Kakashi rolled his eyes and stood up. "Great," he grumbled sarcastically. "Sit tight, and try not to move that hand too much. It's still healing from the last time."

Sasuke glowered angrily at his mention of the 'last time'. Any reference to his crazy stunt of running off to try and kill his brother only to get his right hand nearly irreversibly crushed was grounds for another heated argument. "I know," he bit out ruthlessly, turning his head away pointedly.

Kakashi let out another sigh and closed the door behind him.

***

Iruka sat in a chair at the side of the patient's bed with a worn look on his face. When he had arrived, hours ago after Miss Sakura had run to tell him what happened, Naruto had still been in the ICU receiving stitches on his right shoulder. Now the doctors said he was sleeping off several weeks worth of exhaustion and replenishing the many nutrients that his starving system required.

As Iruka stared at the poor young man's face, he couldn't help but think about the shocking conversation he'd had with Principal Sarutobi. Nothing in the world had prepared him for what he'd discovered…

"_Iruka," the old man said seriously. "I'm glad that you've agreed to my suggestion concerning Naruto but there's something you should know before you fully commit to the idea."_

_Iruka tried not to let too many of his emotions show as he sat before the principal's desk. He had only just gotten over the shock of being asked such an astonishing request. Iruka was further shocked when, despite not being fully aware of the whole situation, he didn't hesitate to say yes._

"_You may be too young to remember the details," Sarutobi started, "but about 16 years ago, Kage City was in a state of panic."_

_Iruka furrowed his brow dubiously. What did this change in subject have to do with Naruto, he wondered. "You're referring to the terrorist attacks?" he asked aloud._

_Sarutobi nodded slowly. "You've heard of the terrorist/serial killer, Kyuubi, haven't you?"_

_Iruka gritted his teeth angrily at the name. How could he _not_ know about Kyuubi? That monster had been responsible for the deaths of his parents, after all. When he was only fifteen!_

_Sarutobi sighed, already knowing the history of Iruka's parents. "Naruto was a victim of Kyuubi's long before he was born, Iruka…"_

In the hospital bed, Naruto suddenly let out a gasp and shot up into a sitting position with wide, unfocused eyes.

Iruka was jarred away from his thoughts as he watched the small teen take in his surroundings unsurely. He cleared his throat gently to grab the boy's attention and was immediately stricken by a bright set of seafoam blue eyes.

"Mr. Iruka?" the blond mumbled confusedly.

"Hello Naruto," Iruka replied with a slightly forced smile. He still wasn't sure how he felt about Naruto's connection to the mass murderer Kyuubi but he'd decided that, logically, he couldn't hold such a thing against an innocent child. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto's eyes darted back and forth around the room nervously. "U-um… fine, Mr. Iruka…."

"We've been very worried about you, Naruto. We didn't think you were coming back."

The blond forced himself to look his guidance counselor in the eyes again. "I'm, uh, sorry I worried everyone, Mr. Iruka, but I wasn't planning on coming back."

"And why was that?" Iruka asked, frowning now.

Naruto didn't say anything but turned his head away in silent turmoil.

Iruka was saddened by the young boy's position. The deep-rooted sadness in his bright blue eyes was nearly oppressive in its intensity. Seeing him with that look on his face made him realize that he was making the right decision.

"Naruto-"

"Mr. Iruka I'm sorry you had to come down like this," the blond interrupted gently. "And I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to prove to you that I'm something more than some troublemaking kid off the streets…"

A sad smile stretched across the older man's face. He felt so bad for this unfortunate teen. He'd gone his entire life being shunned by everyone simply because no one was willing to get close enough to see the kind, inspirational soul that existed beneath the surface. His resolve hardened even more in that moment.

"Naruto…" he tried again.

"I _can't_ go back to that orphanage, Mr. Iruka," the teen interrupted again. This time he turned to meet his guidance counselor's eyes imploringly. "You can't make me go back there!"

"_Naruto_!" Iruka shouted exasperatedly.

This time the blond in question remained silent and waited, with a sullen expression for the older man to speak.

Iruka took a long breath before standing and walking to the side of Naruto's bed. The blond continued to watch with a childlike pout on his lips as though he knew he was about to be reprimanded. Several emotions were flitting across his bright blue eyes: fear, sadness, determination, anger….

Iruka looked down at him and smiled gently. "Mr. Uzumaki," he asked, "How would you feel if I were to sign the papers tonight… for your adoption?"

* * *

**A/N:** I hope it wasn't too weird that I ended it there. The focus of this chapter was supposed to be the idea of Naruto being stuck at a crossroads. He hasn't really been able to move forward and make something of himself yet due to his situation but he does want to ignore all of his fears and prove to everyone that he can make something of himself. Taking all of that into account, Iruka's offer is a major turning point for the story. Just imagine what Naruto's reaction will be!

Anyway, sorry this update took a while. Although I have the entire outline for this story done out, I ran into a bit of a stumbling block when it came time to place Sasuke in the story. He's a major dichotomy for me. I love the effect he has in cementing Naruto's beliefs, but I hate how he turns out in the actual anime. No loyalty. I think my Sasuke might turn out a little differently but I'm not sure and this may cause me to deviate from my original outline a bit.

Take into account, people, that I don't have a beta for any of my work so your reviews are my only feedback and I do, in fact, appreciate constructive criticism. I'm not overly confident that I got the proper range of emotion across but I hope I did okay. Naruto's situation in this story is fashioned after someone I knew in middle school. No one knew until the end of 7th grade that this guy was actually homeless (only 13!) and the way he acted you would've never guessed. But the teachers found out and he wound up staying with his uncle or something. Crazy story! But anywho, please review!!


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